Farewell Autumn

Come and hold my hands on a drizzly day,

Take me through this autumn.

Take me to the wedding of love,

Pass over the autumn haze.

Let the wind wander, let the rain fall,

Let the drops dance, let the earth feel the breeze,

Without our spring life, Khazan,

Take me through a chapter of your novel YOU.

Let’s erase the sadness and grief from our hearts,

Let’s choose the fate we have,

Let’s join the crane train and go,

Pass through the ranks of distant travelers.

13.10.2026.

Elmaya Jabbarova – was born in Azerbaijan. She is poet, writer, translator. Her poems from 2019 to date were published in the regional and foreign newspapers, magazines, books, Web. pages, Anthologies. She has been awarded many certificates diplomas, medals. She is the Department manager of the Hekari newspaper of Azerbaijan. She is a honorary member of the Writers of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. World Association of People’s Creators, Honorary member of the International Academy of Literature, Art, Culture and Social Sciences of Uzbekistan. She is an Academic. Appointed Koordinator, Secretary General of Azerbaijan, Argentina. She is presented in the book Famous Personalities MultiArt – 5, Argentina. She was a member World Poetic Fraternity. Shewas awarded the title of Global Poet of 2023; 2024. She was awarded the title of World Poet Laureate from Azerbaijan as one of 55 poets selected by Pentasi B Friendship Poetry for 2025.

THE SHROUD OF STOLEN CHILDHOODS 

In the hush before sunrise, the world holds its breath for the girls who wake to futures not their own.

Shadows move across their doorways like unspoken verdicts,

and childhood slips quietly from their hands

before the morning light can find their names.

©️®️ Shannon Scoates

In veiled horizons, their stolen childhoods became a threnody,

Within a penumbra where only whispers dared to breathe.

Amid life’s vicissitudes, their voices became birds imprisoned beneath iron skies,

Where innocence wore the shackles of a bridal guise.

©️®️Somdatta Mitra

Yet somewhere beyond the silence, a dawn remembered their true names,

And hope, though veiled, refused to surrender its flame.

Through fractured destinies, unseen roots gathered strength beneath the dust,

Awaiting the hour when broken wings would remember they were fashioned for the wind.

©️®️ Shannon Scoates

Their perennial resilience and yearning for reclamation remain unheard;

In peregrine phases of life, their inhibitions are like dormant embers beneath an avalanche of ash.

Each sunbeam caresses their unbloomed dreams, yearning to blossom through the illumination of education.

©️®️Somdatta Mitra

Beneath eclipsed heavens, forgotten prayers gathered like unseen constellations,

Each silent tear became a river seeking the freedom of its own tide.

Though sorrow etched its scripture upon the fragile parchment of their days,

The soul remembered a language no chain could ever silence.

©️®️ Shannon Scoates

An amphora of forgotten tears, the shroud concealing their distress;

Girlhood, like a seed, survived beneath the frozen earth.

Knowledge became a constellation stitched across the night of tyranny,

Abrogating the yesteryears’ oppressive customs, as the lexicon of liberty found its voice.

©️®️ Somdatta Mitra

Morning gathered quietly upon their shoulders like a blessing,

As forgotten dreams unfolded petal by patient petal toward the sun.

No longer hidden beneath the weight of inherited silence,

They walked into tomorrow carrying the light that had always lived within.

©️®️ Shannon Scoates

In resurgence, a renaissance of dignity became a mountain no tyranny could erode,

Like phoenixes carrying the eternal memory of fire.

As a testament to humanity, every heart awaited its kairos,

Where the grammar of equality blossomed into the scripture of emancipation.

In effulgence and magnanimity, they became the anthem of unconquered hearts.

©️®️ Somdatta Mitra

©️®️Shannon Scoates 

Shannon Scoates is a Canadian poet and intuitive writer whose work is rooted in nature, mysticism, and channeled guidance. Influenced by childhood storytellers like Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, as well as poets such as Emily Dickinson, Maya Angelou, E.E. Cummings, W.B. Yeats, Robert Frost, and RR Token author Terry Brooks, she began writing at age ten as a way to express emotion and truth. Shannon is also an energy healer trained in Reiki, colour, sound, and vibrational therapy, and she is passionate about helping women find their voice through writing and spiritual connection. A devoted advocate for children’s literature and animal rights, she carries forward the encouragement of her Grampa and Grama, whose spirit continues to guide her creative path. Her first book is currently in development.

FOOTSTEPS OF OUR TIME

Footprints on the hot asphalt,

footsteps of our time

still stand…

In each one a piece of love

has remained forever.

I walk the paths of youth

I still hear our footsteps

and distant but loud laughter…

When love blossomed

everything smelled of sin.

The flowers on the stone weep,

the birds grow quieter,

autumn is golden in color

only we are no more.

Milka J. Šolaja, Belgrade

MILKA J. ŠOLAJA, born in Korenica, Republic of Croatia. Lives and works in Belgrade. She has been writing poetry since her high school days.

So far, she has published 11 independent poetry collections: “If I Were a Bird”, “Dreams in the Mirror”, “Between Reality and Sleep”, “Traces Will Remain”, “Black and White World”, “I Think Your Hands Are Yours”, “A Tear from Stone”, “I Was Born Alone” and two co-authored poetry collections: “I Dream with Verses” and “My Dreams Written in Verses”, published by “Kulture Snova” from Zagreb. 

The eleventh poetry collection “I Am This I Am” is in preparation for publication, as well as the autobiographical novel “Walking on the Edge”. 

She writes love, homeland, descriptive, reflective, spiritual and poetry for children.

Translated into English, Hungarian, Bengali, Spanish, Greek, Odia, Arabic…

Award-winning, represented in many anthologies, monographs, collections and magazines, both domestic and international. Some poems are composed.

Member of: Serbian Writers’ Association, Literary and Artistic Union “Vlaho Bukovac” from Split, “Culture of Dreams” from Zagreb, Institute for Children’s Literature in Belgrade.

She is also a member of several International Groups, Forums and Academies for Poetry and Literature, where she has received a large number of awards. 

THE LANGUAGE OF HOOKS

Write

the unsaid

of the word.

The unseen

of the shadow

upon the discolored humus

of love.

The innocence

of the stone

when it breaks

in the hooked tongues

of the human being,

who has lost

even the traces.

Write,

lest I lose

my identity.

Athens, October 14, 2026

Ermira D. Ifandi was born on June 3, 1975, in Fratar, Mallakastër.

She graduated from “Eqrem Çabej” University in Gjirokastër, with a degree in “Teaching for the Lower Primary Cycle.”

For nearly two decades, she has lived with her family in Athens, Greece, where she continues to maintain a strong connection with the Albanian language, culture, and literary creativity, turning words into a bridge between two cultures.

She has participated in literary competitions organized by Radio Tirana and has published her literary works in local newspapers in Gjirokastër and Tepelenë.

Publications

Albanian–Greek bilingual poetry collection entitled:

ÇAST – ΣΤΙΓΜΗ

Her literary work has been recognized and praised by well-known critics and writers such as Robert Martiko, Luan Rama, Agon Halabaku, and Margarit Done.

Studies and critical works on her poetry have been included in the following books:

“Kur toka flet me qiellin” by Robert Martiko.

“Në zemër të fjalëve” by Margarit Done.

She has been included in several literary anthologies, including:

“Stina poetike”, selected by Pëllumb Troçi.

“NA bashkoi poezia”, among others.

Her work has been published in:

CavaliereNews Magazine, 

Elmasar El-Arabi Magazine,

POLEART Magazine, Destinacioni Newspaper, Letraria Newspaper, Ciceroni Newspaper, Vlera Magazine, Miriade Magazine, Qendra Press, Albania Press, Nevvsin.al, VVINDOVV.AL, and others.

MORENA

 A young, dark-skinned woman, covering her head and chest with a multicolored veil. Very striking, just as she likes to appear: orange like the summer sun, light blue like the sky, and yellow like sunbeams, which characterize her as a great model. She represents many women in her country. Since they remove their veils in the privacy of their homes, it is a tradition to wear them in the presence of people outside their family. Wearing a hijab, a subtle veil over the head, covering down to her chest, she adores her silks, gauzes, and tulle—a great combination with the veil, fabrics that beautify women of color. 

Nidia Amelia García, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a writer and an active member of Juntos por las Letras (Together for Letters). She has participated in numerous virtual events in Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Spain, Colombia, Portugal, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and elsewhere. She has also contributed to literary anthologies such as “Books of the Immortals” and “Anthology of the 50 Poets of the World 2022.”

PLAY

Between the tips of your fingers

and the edges of my lips,

the silence trembles –

like a pendulum in an endless play.

Milena Pčinjski, MA – Biography

Milena Pčinjski (Милена Пчињски) was born on October 28, 1986, in Prokuplje, Republic of Serbia, and currently resides in Ćuprija. She holds a Master’s degree in English Language and Literature. She is recognized as an international poet who writes in both Serbian and English. Her poetry has been published in numerous collections and anthologies of contemporary Serbian literature, as well as in international and online poetry compilations. Her poems have been translated into English, Hungarian, Russian, Romanian, Bengali, and Finnish.

She is a member of several book clubs in Serbia and regularly participates in literary events and poetry competitions. In 2025, she published her poetry collection Verses Imprisoned (Заробљени стихови). She works as an online English professor and also serves as a translator and editor for Area Felix, an international Serbian e-magazine dedicated to creative literature and culture. Additionally, she is a proofreader for the Association of Writers –SKOR, where she also serves as the President for the Pomoravlje Region.

Her collection Verses Imprisoned was awarded the Honorary Silver Diploma by the Orthodox Cultural and Artistic Almanac Arina NN in Nizhny Novgorod in 2025.

Milena is an honorary member of the International Advisory Board of the Academy of Farsala in Greece, as well as of the Global Literary Society, where she received a Certificate of Appreciation for „her excellent contribution to the Global Movement of Positive Literature” from Bhagirath Choudhary, the founder of the organization. She is currently preparing her second poetry collection.

ROMANCE OF THE TREE AND LIFE

The seed was the first whisper, closed in on itself,

holding within its tiny womb all the history yet to be born.

It descended to earth not as a rest, but as a pact:

to surrender to the darkness in order to learn to see the light.

The tree grew like a bridge between two worlds.

Its roots conversed silently with what has already gone,

while its branches raised their arms toward what has yet to arrive.

It was a home for the bird, shade for the weary,

a slow breath that sustained the rhythm of day and night.

Life loved it with hands of rain and golden sun.

It taught it that growing is not only about rising,

but also about sinking deep so as not to be blown away by the wind.

Each ring on its trunk was a kiss kept safe,

a year that passed and remained etched in its being.

 The moment arrived when its leaves began to fall,

not as a defeat, but as a return.

The tree did not fight against the coming calm.

It embraced death as one embraces an old friend:

with gratitude for all that had been lived, without fear of the silence that would follow.

Because it knew it would not disappear, but rather change form.

It would become fertilizer for the seed that will awaken tomorrow,

firewood to warm someone on a cold night,

wood to support a roof or rock a child’s cradle.

There was no end, only a transformation.

The tree merged with the earth that sustained it,

and in that intimate and eternal embrace,

life and death joined hands,

understanding that they were always two halves of the same heartbeat.

GRACIELA NOEMI VILLAVERDE is a writer and poet from Concepción del Uruguay (Entre Rios) Argentina. Based in Buenos Aires, she graduated in letters and is the author of seven books of poetry which have won several awards. She works as the World Manager of Educational and Social Projects, of the Hispanic World Union of Writers. UHE World Honorary President of the same institution Activa de la Sade, Argentine Society of Writers. Commissioner of honor in the executive cabinet IN THE EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL RELATIONS DIVISION, of the UNACCC SOUTH AMERICA ARGENTINA CHAPTER.